PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Evercore ISI lowered PPG Industries from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $152.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday. Bank of America decreased their price target on PPG Industries from $167.00 to $164.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on PPG Industries from $156.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Vertical Research raised PPG Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on PPG Industries from $149.00 to $148.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $155.50.

PPG Industries Stock Performance

Shares of PPG stock opened at $130.40 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.69 billion, a PE ratio of 22.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.28. PPG Industries has a 52-week low of $120.32 and a 52-week high of $152.89. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $140.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $138.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.86. The firm had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.43 billion. PPG Industries had a return on equity of 23.13% and a net margin of 7.74%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.82 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that PPG Industries will post 8.46 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, April 18th that allows the company to buyback $2.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to repurchase up to 8.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PPG Industries news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.94, for a total value of $479,196.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,008,192.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.56% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PPG Industries

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in PPG Industries during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its stake in PPG Industries by 588.5% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 179 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. Private Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in PPG Industries during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PPG Industries in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Institutional investors own 81.86% of the company’s stock.

About PPG Industries

PPG Industries, Inc manufactures and distributes paints, coatings, and specialty materials in the United States, Canada, the Asia Pacific, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. It operates through two segments, Performance Coatings and Industrial Coatings. The Performance Coatings segment offers coatings, solvents, adhesives, sealants, sundries, and software for automotive and commercial transport/fleet repair and refurbishing, light industrial coatings, and specialty coatings for signs; wood stains; paints, thermoplastics, pavement marking products, and other advanced technologies for pavement marking for government, commercial infrastructure, painting, and maintenance contractors; and coatings, sealants, transparencies, transparent armor, adhesives, engineered materials, and packaging and chemical management services for commercial, military, regional jet, and general aviation aircraft.